By Wendell Tenison
Galatians 4:4-5 "But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,.....To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons."
When the time was right, God sent his only Son for the purpose of man’s reconciliation and an offer of eternal life. Even though Adam was made in the image and likeness of God, the less could not beget the better. In all cases of birth, there must be a seed and that was of God, his word. God’s seed combined with the seed of the woman whom Christ (the Logos-the Word) made the woman in the beginning by his own word, produced Christ (the Word), making Christ the Word within the Word.
John 5:26 "For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself;"
We can see clearly see how that God made his Son to take on the nature (incarnate) of his creation and at the same time the divine spiritual nature of his being. In other words, God in the flesh. This also was in keeping with the promise that God made to Eve that her seed would bruise the head of the Serpent. To the promise that God made to Abraham that through his seed all nations of the earth would be blessed. Moses said, that God would raise up a prophet like unto himself of whom the people would hear.
John 1:14 "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth."
Referring back to verse one, in the beginning was the Word, the Word (Logos) was with God and the Word was God, meaning Christ. God made Adam full of glory, but his disobedience tarnished forever and all ages to come. Jesus came to the earth in the form of fleshly man and experienced the trials and tribulations that he might comfort his followers in the midst of their hardship.
Hebrews 2:18 "For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted."
We have the eye witness accounts of many who testified of the glory that God bestowed upon his Son at different times. The Holy Spirit of God descending upon him in the bodily shape of a dove at his baptism; the transfiguration upon the mountain before the eyes of Peter, James and John.
Among the many scriptures that describes his divine purpose in the flesh, we will look at four scriptures that reveals one of the great hidden mysteries of God from the beginning of the world.
Ephesians 2:13-16 "But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ......For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;.....Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;.....And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:"
It is believed by some that God did not know man’s limits to bear temptation, so a part of the purpose in sending his Son was to find the answer. Not true. When God made man he knew his limits, because he said he would not allow us to be tempted beyond that which we are able to bear. However, since Christ did come to the earth, no one can point a finger at him and say, you lived in your ivory towers and didn’t bother to know what man had to endure.
Hebrews 2:7-9 "Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands:.....Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him. .....But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man."
Jesus was made a little lower than the angels in that he suffered death, of which the angels do not suffer. However, God makes it very clear that his Son is over the angels. In fact, as it is stated in the reading, all things were put under his feet. The role of angels are ministerings spirits sent forth to minister to those who shall be heirs of salvation. The worship of angels is strictly forbidden in the new testament.
Colossians 2:18 "Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,"
Hebrews 7:15-17 "And it is yet far more evident: for that after the similitude of Melchisedec there ariseth another priest,.....Who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life......For he testifieth, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec."
A careful study of this subject will expose the error that for years has taught that Melchizedec was a man who had no record of birth, death, or who his parents were. In the first place, Christ was not made after the power of an endless life based on the mysterious life and death of any man. To deny that Melchizedec was a man who does not live forever, is to relinquish the endless life and priesthood of Christ, because, he was made after the order of one who did not die. The only logical conclusion is that Melchizedec was Christ in the flesh, who when he blessed Abraham, was blessing himself, because he was yet in the loins of Abraham. Not much is said of Melchizedec, but it is enough.
Beginning with Heb.7:1, and without quoting each verse in its entirety, we will highlight the prominent points of interest, as pertaining to Melchizedec.
Verse 1:
King of Salem, later Jerusalem.
Priest of the most high God.
Who met Abraham after the slaughter of the kings and blessed him.
Verse 2:
To whom Abraham gave a tenth part of all.
First by interpretation King of Righteousness.
King of Salem which is King of Peace.
Verse 3:
Without father.
Without mother.
Without descent, genealogy or pedigree.
Neither having beginning of days, nor end of life.
But made like unto the Son of God. No man ever had this distinction.
Abideth a priest continually, in perpetuity or perpetual.
Verse 4:
Consider just how great this man was to whom Abraham gave a tenth part of the spoils.
Verse 7:
The less, Abraham, was blessed of the better, Melchizedec.
Verse 8:
Men or priests who received tithes under the law died, but there at that time it was witnessed that Melchizedec lived.
Verse 11:
If perfection came by the Levitical priesthood, for under it the people received the law of Moses, what need was there that another priest arise after the order of Melchizedec and not be called after the order of Aaron?
Verse 15:
It was evident that another priest should arise after the order of Melchizedec.
Verse 16:
The priesthood of Christ was not made after the fashion of Aaron, or the carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life, Melchizedec.
Verse 24:
Unlike the Levitical priesthood that changed because of the death of the priest, the man Jesus Christ continues forever, because his priesthood is unchangeable as a result of him abiding forever.
We conclude that Christ was made after the order of Melchizedec in these three ways:
A) Melchizedec was king, Christ is King of Kings.
B) Melchizedec was a priest of the most high God, Christ is high priest anointed by God and our high priest.
C) Melchizedec abides a priest continually, so does Christ abide a priest forever. We will also continue as priest forever, serving God in his temple before his throne day and night.
Revelation 7:14-15 "And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb......Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them."
Those who deny that Melchizedec was more than a man, also deny the angels who appeared to Abraham in the form of men; or as the dumb ass speaking with a man’s voice and worst of all, the power of God to do these things.
Galatians 4:4 "But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,"
As the last prophet to the Jews and in keeping with the promise that God made through Moses, that God would raise up a prophet like unto him.
Deuteronomy 18:15 "The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken;"
It is incredible that Malachi is the standard answer given when asked, who was the last prophet to the Jews? The priests and Levites in the days of John the Baptist ask him if he was "that prophet."
John 1:21 "And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No."
Contrary to the liberal interpretation found in the center margin of my bible, where it says, "a prophet"; this is profoundly against what Moses said. The Jews were looking for "that prophet" and were inquiring of John if he was him, because nothing else is said by Moses as to give them any clues.
The reason given in Gal.4:5, has already been quoted to redeem those who were under the law that they might receive the adoption of sons. Therefore, in keeping with the plan of God, Christ had to be made under the law.
Romans 1:3 "Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh;"
King David was of the tribe of Judah and Christ was of the fruit of his loins according to the flesh. Therefore, God had sworn to David with an oath that he would raise up Christ to sit upon his throne.
Acts 2:29-30 "Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day......Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne;"
2 Samuel 7:12 "And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom."
Too the disappointment of his brethren, the literal kingdom of David would never be re-established, but his kingdom is forever spiritual. Even his close disciples ask for a restoration of the kingdom of David, but it never happened.
Philippians 2:7-8 "But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:.....And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross."
Since man cannot see spirits, what better way was there for God to approach man? The primary thought here is that Christ took on the form of a servant and humbled himself before his father. There are many other reasons why Christ was made in the likeness of man of which we understand the different body parts; this relating to Christ’s body being the church of which he is the head. We are members of his body, his flesh and his bones.
Ephesians 5:30 "For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones."
Hebrews 2:11, 17-18 "For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren,"....."Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people......For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted."
The Lord came to his own and they received him not. As he said, how often would he have gathered them together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings and they would not.
Luke 13:34 "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!"
The plain fact of the matter is that people are just not interested in the things that belong to God. They were not interested then, nor are they now. According to the noted Jewish historian Josephus, the high priest took from the lower poorer priests’ portion to the point they starved to death.
2 Corinthians 5:21 "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."
Sin is classified as a deadly poison; the sting of death is sin and the tongue is full of deadly poison.
1 Corinthians 15:55-56 "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? .....The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law."
James 3:8 "But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison."
Sin and death have a stinger as a deadly scorpion. The antidote for rattlesnake venom comes from injecting the venom into a large innocent horse. The horse is big and powerful and can produce an antidote when given to man, can counteract the poison. In the same manner, God stung our innocent Lord with the poison of sin and death; wherein, he was strong and powerful to produce the antidote for sin. Therefore, Christ overcame the sting of death, victorious from the grave. Man is weak and incapable of counteracting sin; therefore, as a result, we are without strength to cope with sin. This is why it is mandatory for man to become a member of the body of Christ in order to receive the powerful antidote in his blood.
Romans 5:6 "For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly."
All of mankind dies because of sin.
Romans 5:12 "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:"
Since Jesus did not sin, nor knew sin, he could not die. Therefore, God stung him with sin (made to be sin) in order that he would die to redeem those under the patriarchal law, law of Moses and all others after for all generations to come.
Hebrews 9:15 "And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance."
(For the above, I attribute and thank my son Paul for his excellent exegesis of how Jesus was made sin.)
Galatians 3:13 "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:"
Deuteronomy 21:22-23 "And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree:.....His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance."
Death by hanging is accursed of God. Like being made sin for us, Christ was also made a curse. That by hanging on a tree he might redeem those who under the threat of penalty had no hope of salvation. Being cursed by God is the nearest thing to barrenness there is. By Christ laying himself barren on the cross, he could redeem a barren and worthless mankind.
Hebrews 5:9 "And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;"
The word perfect here does not mean sinless or complete, for Christ was already that, but raised to a state befitting him.
John 17:4-5 "I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do......And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was."
We see the request Christ made of the Father and it was granted.
1 Timothy 6:15-16 "Which in his times he shall show, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords;.....Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen."
We can only with a dim view try to describe the glory and power of the risen Christ. No man can ever come close to approaching the glorious light wherein he dwells.
Hebrews 7:21-22 "(For those priests were made without an oath; but this with an oath by him that said unto him, The Lord sware and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec:).....By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament."
A better priesthood, testament, tabernacle, holy place, offering, cleansing, sanctuary, ministry, mediator and covenant of promises. All for the better of God-man relationship. Who could refuse it?
Hebrews 5:5-6 "So also Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest; but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, to day have I begotten thee......As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec."
It was the God of heaven who made Christ an high priest, because he glorified not himself to appoint himself. Where there is a high priest, there must also be those of lower priests, as Peter teaches us that we all are priests of God. There are none between us and Christ, as many preachers have assumed the role of priest over us.
Acts 2:36 "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ."
For some reason Thayer page 366, in his definition of Lord, ignores Acts 2:36. Lord in this verse is the same as Thayer describes in Acts 10:36: "To Jesus as the Messiah, since by his death he acquired a special ownership in mankind, and after his resurrection was exalted to a partnership in the divine administration (this force of the word when applied to Jesus appears esp. in Acts 10:36; Ro.14:8; 1Cor.7:22; 8:6; Phil.2:9-11):"
Of Christ, Thayer had this to say: page 672; "of the Messiah, viewed in his generic aspects [the word, that is to say, being used as an appellative rather than a proper name]." The name of Christ was added to Jesus as, "Jesus the Christ." In other apostolic writings, Christ is used as a proper name.
We see that God anointed Jesus to the highest as Lord God over all and gave him the name of Christ, which is above all other names.
Hebrews 1:4-6 "Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they......For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?.....And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him."
When God made Jesus a little lower than the angels, it does not mean that they were better than he. While he was upon the earth, he could have called for twelve legions of angels had he so desired. Chapter one seems to be the subject of his preeminence over the angels. Why it is mentioned may be due to the fact that Christ humbled himself to allow man to abuse him whom he created, thereby, causing some to believe him not worthy.
1 Peter 2:6-7 "Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded......Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner,"
Peter also saying:
Acts 4:11 "This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner."
As we all know that a building is no stronger than its corners, or a fence is no stronger than its corner posts. Obviously buildings were constructed differently in those days as compared to now and carefully sought the right corner stone.
Ephesians 2:19-22 "Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;.....And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;.....In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord:.....In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit."
We now can see that the Lord had reference to the church as the holy building of God, of which Christ is the head.
1 Corinthians 15:45 "And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit."
What was Adam’s soul before it became living? Obviously it was inanimate, but Christ was spirit before he was made a quickening spirit. That is not to say, that Christ could not quicken or make alive before this, but this was the design and purpose of God for him, by giving him all power and authority.
1 Corinthians 15:22 "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive."
First of all, we are quickened from the dead spiritually through our obedience to the gospel of Christ in baptism. Therefore, coming from the water grave in the likeness of his resurrection. Secondly, we will be quickened from the grave at his coming, because all will hear his voice and come forth. By reading the entire chapter of first Corinthians, we will answer any question as to how Jesus was made a quickening spirit. His death, burial and resurrection was the prototype of both the spiritually alive in him now and the spiritually dead at his coming, Christ making the separation in the judgment.
The following verses better describe this subject:
John 5:21 "For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will."
John 6:63 "It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life."
Romans 4:17 "(As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were."
Romans 8:11 "But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you."
Ephesians 2:1,5 "And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins:" "Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)"
Colossians 2:13 "And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;"
(1 Timothy 6:13) "I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession;"
1 Peter 3:18 "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:"
We have noted seventeen different ways in which Jesus was made, all of which has a very special purpose. Nothing was left undone in order that man might make peace with his God.
Until we explore and bring to light all of these facts, the world will not understand the real purpose of, "How Jesus was Made."